GRANULATION DEVICE

Abstract

A device for granulation of concentrated and/or aqueous solutions/melts may include a shaft extending in a longitudinal direction and rotatably mounted within a housing. Impact arms may extend radially outward from a rotation axis of the shaft. Due to blade elements attached to the impact arms, particles of fluidized material to be treated may advance in the longitudinal direction along a flow direction and be rotated and mixed by the blade elements. A first blade element may have an attitude so as to be inclined relative to a plane that in a transverse direction extends through the rotation axis, when viewed in the conveying direction. A second blade element may have an attitude that is counter to the flow direction such that the second blade element when viewed in the conveying direction is aligned so as to be reversely inclined relative to a remainder of the blade elements.

Claims

1.-17. (canceled)

18. A device for granulation of concentrated and/or aqueous solutions/melts, the device comprising: a trough-type housing; a first shaft that is aligned in a longitudinal direction and is rotatably mounted in an interior of the trough-type housing, wherein the first shaft includes impact arms that extend from a rotation axis of the first shaft generally radially outward; and blade elements disposed on the impact arms, wherein due to the blade elements particles of material to be treated for fluidizing that are introduced into the trough-type housing are advanced in the longitudinal direction along a flow direction and are agitated and mixed by the blade elements, wherein a plane in a transverse direction extends through the rotation axis of the first shaft, wherein a first blade element of the blade elements has an attitude such that the first blade element is inclined relative to the plane when viewed in a conveying direction of the material to be treated, wherein a second blade element of the blade elements has an attitude that is counter to the flow direction of the material to be treated such that the second blade element is reversely inclined relative to the blade elements other than the second blade element when viewed in the conveying direction of the material to be treated.

19. The device of claim 18 wherein the second blade element is reversely inclined relative to the blade elements other than the first and second blade elements when viewed in the conveying direction of the material to be treated, wherein external contours of the blade elements move on an imaginary surface of a rotation body.

20. The device of claim 18 comprising a second shaft with impact arms and blade elements disposed on the impact arms of the second shaft, wherein at least one of the blade elements disposed on the impact arms of the second shaft has an attitude that is counter to the flow direction of the material to be treated, wherein the first and second shafts are configured to rotate in opposite directions.

21. The device of claim 18 wherein at least two of the blade elements that are not adjacent to one another have an attitude that is counter to the flow direction of the material to be treated.

22. The device of claim 18 wherein free ends of a plurality of the blade elements are disposed along a helical line.

23. The device of claim 18 comprising a second shaft that is parallel to and spaced apart from the first shaft.

24. The device of claim 18 comprising a perforated distribution plate for infeeding the concentrated and/or aqueous solutions/melts from above the material to be treated, wherein the perforated distribution plate is disposed generally horizontally in the trough-type housing.

25. The device of claim 18 comprising an installation for infeeding the concentrated and/or aqueous solutions/melts from above the material to be treated, wherein the installation extends only in a front and/or central region of the trough-type housing when viewed in the flow direction.

26. The device of claim 18 comprising an installation for infeeding additives to the material to be treated, wherein the installation comprises mutually spaced apart ports that are distributed across a length of the trough-type housing.

27. The device of claim 26 wherein the installation is a first installation, the device comprising a second installation for adding ammonia water and/or water vapor onto the material to be treated.

28. The device of claim 27 comprising a third installation for adding ammonia water and/or water vapor, wherein the third installation is disposed above, beside, and/or below a medium to be fluidized, wherein the medium is configured to be impinged with the concentrated and/or aqueous solutions/melts.

29. The device of claim 18 comprising an installation for externally heating the device.

30. The device of claim 18 wherein at least one of the blade elements is positioned in a region of an outfeed zone.

31. The device of claim 18 wherein at least one of the blade elements is positioned in a region of an outfeed zone and has an attitude that is counter to the flow direction.

32. The device of claim 18 comprising a baffle plate that influences gas flow and is disposed in the trough-type housing.

33. The device of claim 18 comprising a motorized drive that is configured to rotate the first shaft, wherein the motorized drive is disposed on an end of the first shaft that faces a product outfeed.

34. The device of claim 18 comprising a motorized drive that is configured to rotate the first shaft, wherein the motorized drive is disposed on an end of the first shaft that faces away from a product outfeed.

35. A method for granulation of concentrated and/or aqueous solutions/melts, the method comprising: fluidizing particles of a material to be treated in a granulation device that includes a shaft that is rotatably mounted so as to be aligned in a longitudinal direction and blade elements that are attached to the shaft; conveying the material to be treated in the longitudinal direction of a housing of the granulation device in a flow direction, wherein at least one of the blade elements has an attitude that is counter to the flow direction of the material to be treated; and rotating and mixing the particles of the material to be treated with the blade elements.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein a dwell time of the material to be treated in the granulation device is increased by the at least one of the blade elements that has the attitude that is counter to the flow direction of the material to be treated.

37. A method for granulation of concentrated and/or aqueous solutions/melts, the method comprising: fluidizing particles of a material to be treated in the device of claim 18; conveying the material to be treated in the longitudinal direction of the trough-type housing of the device in the flow direction; and rotating and mixing the particles of the material to be treated with the blade elements.

Description

[0046] The present invention will be explained in more detail hereunder by means of exemplary embodiments with reference to the appended drawings in which:

[0047] FIG. 1 shows a schematically simplified view of a granulation device according to the invention; FIG. 1a shows a detailed view of a perforated distribution plate installed in the granulation device;

[0048] FIG. 2 shows a schematically simplified perspective view of the shaft of the granulation device according to the invention, having the blade elements/impact arms; and

[0049] FIG. 3 shows a schematically simplified lateral view of the granulation device illustrated in FIG. 1.

[0050] The fundamental construction of a granulation device according to the invention is explained in more detail hereunder with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3. The device comprises a trough-type housing 20 in which in the present exemplary embodiment two shafts 10 are mounted so as to be rotatable about the longitudinal axis thereof, wherein the two shafts rotate in opposite directions and the blade elements/impact arms 11 that are attached to the one shaft are positioned so as to be mirror-symmetrical in relation to those on the other shaft. A motorized drive 22, for example an electric motor, which can be disposed at the outfeed end of the device is provided for the rotation of the shafts 10. The trough-type housing 20 is configured as a container and has a volume which accommodates the material to be treated for fluidizing. Blade elements/impact arms 11 are disposed on the shafts 10 in the region of the radially outer ends, said blade elements/impact arms 11 being able to be seen in the lateral view according to FIG. 3 and here being illustrated in only a schematic manner and being explained in yet more detail later with reference to FIG. 2. Instead of two shafts 10, only one shaft 10 can also be present, wherein the number of shafts depends on the size of the device, for example. The two shafts 10 in the example according to FIG. 3 rotate in opposite directions. The motorized drive 22 can also be disposed at the other end of the shafts 10 where the infeeding of fresh material to be treated takes place.

[0051] In the view according to FIG. 1 the material to be treated is conveyed from left to right such that the outfeeding of the granulate takes place in a downward manner by way of an outfeed port 21 on the right side. The infeeding of new material to be treated (oversize and undersized) takes place from above on the left side (in FIG. 1) by way of an infeed installation, this being indicated by the arrow 23. The fresh material to be treated fed in from above then drops into the trough-type housing 20 and is fluidized by way of the rotating shafts 10. A melt or an aqueous or a concentrated solution which is sprayed from above onto the material to be treated is fed to the generated particle bed by way of infeeding nozzles/spray nozzles 24, wherein a plurality of spray nozzles can be connected to one another by way of distribution pipes 25.

[0052] In the case of one potential variant of the invention, a perforated plate 26 can be disposed in the granulator such that a uniform distribution of the solution or melt is achieved when infeeding, since said solution or melt can then be fed through the perforations of the perforated plate 26 uniformly across the length and/or width of the housing in all regions instead of an only punctiform manner by way of individual spray nozzles 24. In the case of this variant, inlet pipes which can open directly onto the perforated plate 26 that distributes the solution or the melt can preferably be used instead of spray nozzles. A plan view of the perforated distribution plate 26 is illustrated as a detail in FIG. 1a. The perforation that can be seen therein represents only one potential variant. The most varied types of perforation patterns are thus possible, for example slots, bores, other geometries or combinations thereof.

[0053] The granulation device according to the invention can comprise a further infeed installation 28 by means of which additives can be introduced into the trough-type housing 20, for example from above, and be deposited on the material to be treated. Furthermore, an additional infeed installation 29 for infeeding steam and/or ammonia (water) from above onto the material to be treated can be provided. Furthermore, an additional infeed installation 30 for infeeding steam and/or ammonia (water) can also be provided in the lower region of the device such that substances of this type can also be fed to the material to be treated from below. Moreover, an infeed installation 31 by way of which filler media can be fed to the granulation procedure can be provided above the trough-type housing 20 of the device. Furthermore, one or a plurality of baffle plates 32 which influence the gas flow in the granulator can be disposed in the trough-type housing 20.

[0054] FIG. 3 shows the two counter-rotating shafts 10 when viewed in the axial direction. Impact arms 27 that extend radially outward can be provided on each shaft 10, blade elements 11 being in each case disposed on the respective radially outer ends of said impact arms 27. Said impact arms 27 and the blade elements 11 can however also form in each case a single component, that is to say that the impact arm is shaped and attached to the shaft such that said impact arm simultaneously serves as a blade element in the context of the present invention, or the blade elements, as opposed to the illustration in FIG. 3, are attached directly to the shafts 10. A variant of embodiment having blade elements 11 configured in such a manner is illustrated in FIG. 2.

[0055] The present invention will be explained in more detail hereunder with reference to the detailed view according to FIG. 2. The image in a perspective illustration and a schematically simplified manner shows a shaft 10 of a granulation device according to the invention, wherein the trough-type housing in which said shaft rotates is not illustrated here. The shaft 10 rotates about the axis thereof in the direction of the arrow 9, said axis extending so as to be centric in the longitudinal direction of the shaft 10. A number of impact arms in the form of blade elements 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 are attached to the shaft 10. Said blade elements have, for example, a flat plate-type shape of rotor blades, but can however also be of another shape, for example being inherently curved, of a propeller type, having a variable width, or the like. The precise shape of the blade elements is not decisive here, and a simplified flat plate-type shape is therefore illustrated in the example.

[0056] The disposal of the blade elements on the shaft influences the behavior of the material to be treated which by the shaft 10 having the blade elements is conveyed in the longitudinal direction of the housing by the rotation of the shaft in the trough-type housing of the granulator, wherein said conveying direction in FIG. 2 is identified by the arrow 8. The shaft 10, when viewed in the conveying direction, has a rear end 18 and a front end 19. A first pair of two blade elements 11 is disposed on the shaft close to the rear end, said blade elements 11 extending from the shaft radially outward. The two blade elements 11 of this first pair in terms of the circumference of the shaft 10 are disposed so as to be mutually offset by 180° such that said two blade elements 11 are approximately opposite on the circumference of the shaft. The blade element 11 that in the drawing lies in the background can therefore not be seen in the illustration of FIG. 2, while the disposal of the blade element 11 of the first pair that lies in the foreground can be readily seen. It can be seen that this blade element 11 is set by way of an attitude in relation to a plane which in the transverse direction runs through the rotation axis of the shaft. The blade element thus does not lie in this imaginary plane which would centrically intersect the cylinder shape of the shaft 10 and thus would run through the rotation axis, but said blade element is inclined in relation to said plane, specifically in such a manner that the blade element 11, when viewed in the lateral view and in the conveying direction 8 of the material to be treated, is disposed so as to be inclined upward. Moreover, the blade element that is disposed so as to be offset by 180° and is not visible is positioned so as to be rotated by 90° in relation to the visible blade element. The blade element that is not visible thus does not lie in an imaginary plane which would centrically intersect the cylinder shape of the shaft 10 and thus run through the rotation axis, but said blade element is inclined in relation to said plane, specifically in such a manner that the blade element 11 that is not visible, when viewed in the lateral view and in the conveying direction 8 of the material to be treated, is disposed so as to be inclined downward.

[0057] As a result, the fluidized material to be treated, which in the housing of the device moves in the direction of the arrow 8, in the movement of said material to be treated along the blade element 11 is subjected to a lower flow resistance.

[0058] A further pair of two blade elements 12 is disposed toward the front end 19 of the shaft 10, so as to be somewhat spaced apart from the first two blade elements 11, said further pair of two blade elements 12 again being approximately mutually opposite on the circumference of the shaft 10, which can be readily seen in this case in FIG. 2. A circumferential offset in terms of the circumference of the shaft 10 in the disposal of the two blade elements 12 in relation to the two blade elements 11 is provided herein, wherein said circumferential offset can be, for example, an angle of 90° or less, that is to say between 10° and 90°, so that the two first blade elements 11, when viewed in the conveying direction, are not aligned with the second blade elements 12 but are disposed so as to be offset to the latter. As a result, a disposal of the blade elements along a helical line ultimately results. When the shaft 10 having the blade elements rotates, the material to be treated is subjected to an advancement in the conveying direction according to the arrow 8.

[0059] The next two blade elements 13 which in the longitudinal direction of the shaft follow toward the front end 19 thereof, in turn form a pair that is approximately opposite in terms of the circumference of the shaft, wherein the blade element 13 lying in the background can only be partially seen here. These two blade elements 13 in terms of the circumference are again at attached to the shaft 10 so as to be offset in relation to the blade elements 12, wherein these two blade elements 13 are also set by way of an attitude so as to have an upward inclination, when viewed in the conveying direction (when the blade element 13 is situated so as to lie at the front, in front of the shaft, to the observer), as can readily be seen of the blade element 13 lying in the foreground. When viewed in the longitudinal direction of the shaft, a fourth pair of blade elements 14 follows so as to be somewhat spaced apart toward the front end 19 of the shaft, said pair of blade elements 14 again being set by way of an attitude, wherein a circumferential offset in relation to the two blade elements 13 lying in front is also provided here. When viewed in the longitudinal direction of the shaft, a further pair of blade elements 15 follows again so as to be somewhat spaced apart, again having a circumferential offset and being set by way of an attitude in the same manner as has been described earlier in the case of the remaining blade elements.

[0060] The blade element pairs 11, 13, 15, and 17 form an imaginary helical line. The blade element pairs 12, 14, 16 form a second imaginary helical line, wherein the blade element pair 16 is however additionally oriented counter to the flow direction.

[0061] Of the pair of two further blade elements 16 that follows toward the front end 19 of the shaft only the blade element lying in the foreground can be readily seen in FIG. 2. When comparing this blade element 16 to the blade element 11 lying in the foreground, for example, it can be seen that the blade element 16 is set by way of another attitude as compared to the blade elements 11, 13, 14, for example. Should an imaginary plane be placed transversely through the axis of the cylinder shape of the shaft 10, the blade element 16 that in FIG. 2 faces the observer is set by way of an attitude in relation to said imaginary plane such that said blade element 16, when viewed in the conveying direction of the material to be treated, is aligned so as to be inclined downward. This leads to the fluidized material to be treated on this blade element 16 being subjected to a somewhat higher flow resistance in the longitudinal direction of the shaft (conveying direction 8). This in turn leads to an increase in the dwell time of the material to be treated in the trough-type housing of the granulation device according to the invention. In the case of the present invention, this is utilized in a targeted manner for varying the dwell time of the material to be treated in the granulator in that individual blade elements 16 are set by way of an attitude at opposite angles in comparison to the remaining blade elements.

[0062] The alignment of the blade elements on the shaft 10 can be best described as follows. That end of the shaft 10 that in the flow direction of the material to be treated lies upstream is herein defined as the rear end 18 of the shaft 10. Said rear end 18 lies in the input part of the granulator, that is to say that the material to be treated makes its way into the granulator there. The front downstream end of the shaft 10 is identified by the reference sign 19 and lies in the output part of the granulator, that is to say that the material to be treated leaves the granulator there. The flow direction of the material to be treated along the shaft is identified by the reference sign 8, that is to say that the material to be treated flows from the rear end 18 of the shaft 10 to the front end 19 of said shaft 10. The rotating direction of the shaft 10 is identified by the arrow 9, that is to say that looking along the shaft 10 in the flow direction in FIG. 2, the shaft then turns in the clockwise direction. The blade elements 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17 that are set by way of an attitude in the flow direction in the exemplary embodiment in relation to an imaginary plane which in the transverse direction runs through the rotation axis of the shaft 10 is set by way of an attitude in such a manner that the upstream end thereof, when viewed in the rotating direction of the shaft, runs ahead of the downstream end. By contrast, in the case of the blade elements of the blade element pair 16 that are set by way of a reverse attitude and thus counter to the flow direction the downstream end of the blade element (on the right in the drawing) in the rotation of the shaft 10 runs ahead of the upstream end. This can readily be seen in the case of the blade element 16 lying in the foreground (for example in comparison to the blade element 14). The second blade element of this pair 16, lying behind the shaft to the observer, cannot be seen in FIG. 2. However, said blade element is set by way of an attitude counter to the flow direction of the material to be treated in the same way such that said blade element in the rotation of the shaft 10 by 180° is rendered congruent with the blade element 16 plotted in FIG. 2.

[0063] When the granulator comprises a second shaft, the blade elements on the latter are disposed so as to be mirror-symmetrical in relation to those according to the illustration of FIG. 2, wherein however the second shaft rotates in the opposite direction to the first shaft such that in the case of both shafts the same positioning of the blade elements in terms of the flow direction of the material to be treated and the rotating direction of the respective shaft prevails as has been described in the preceding paragraph.

[0064] A plurality of blade elements 16 can be set by way of an attitude in a manner as is shown in the context of the blade element 16 in FIG. 2, wherein however preferably not all, furthermore preferably only a minority, of the blade elements are set by way of an attitude in this shape.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0065] 8 Arrow (conveying direction)

[0066] 9 Arrow (rotating direction)

[0067] 10 Shaft

[0068] 11 Blade element

[0069] 12 Blade element

[0070] 13 Blade element

[0071] 14 Blade element

[0072] 15 Blade element

[0073] 16 Blade element

[0074] 17 Blade element

[0075] 18 Rear end of the shaft

[0076] 19 Front end of the shaft

[0077] 20 Trough-type housing

[0078] 21 Outfeed port

[0079] 22 Motorized drive

[0080] 23 Infeed installation (undersize or oversize, respectively)

[0081] 24 Spray nozzles

[0082] 25 Distributor pipes (for steam and/or ammonia (water))

[0083] 26 Perforated distribution plate

[0084] 27 Impact arms

[0085] 28 Infeed installation for additives

[0086] 29 Infeed installation for infeeding steam and/or ammonia (water) from above

[0087] 30 Infeed installation for infeeding steam and/or ammonia (water) from below

[0088] 31 Infeed installation for filler media

[0089] 32 Baffle plates